Invisible Life
by electricgurl
Summary: I suck @ summarys so I guess maybe just try it and see if u like it....Complete!!!
1. Default Chapter

Title: Invisible Life

Author: Electricgurl

E-mail: [electricgurl_0582@yahoo.ca][1]

Rating: PG-

Disclaimer: I don't own them got it?¿?¿?

Summary: Darrien needs help but will the gang get there before it's to late?

Spoliers: Yeah some…

Warning: Hey this is just too give you fare warning that this story is going to be dark….mostly because my best friend just started to date a guy that I used to (and still kind of do) like…and I needed somewhere to place my anger…R&R Flames welcome…

Also I'm looking for a beta-reader if any one is interested e-mail me…

Oh and Italics means someone's thoughts….

   [1]: mailto:electricgurl_0582@yahoo.ca



	2. Prologue

Prologue

_As__[Oscar Wilde][1] once said "I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects. A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies."_

Darien looked over at the phone as it rang. He knew it was probably Hobbes or Claire and that he should answer it but he just doesn't want to go to work and if they did really need him they would send someone to come and get him. He paused before returning to his book and looked down at his tattoo _half full…soon the counteragent won't do any good and once again I'll be all alone in the world. _Darien's lips formed into a sly smile. _It just must be meant to be… __Darien__ Fawkes must be meant to life alone for life. Darien stopped smiling and shock his head as if trying to get rid of the thoughts the phone had finally finished ringing he re-opened his book. __I wonder what they will do with me once I'm completely insane. The phone began to ring again Darien growled deep in his throat looking over at it. __I might not have to worry about going QSM if they don't stop calling me. He sighed he might as well get it apparently they won't give up. Darien put down his book and stood up stretching his legs then walked over to the phone and picked it up._

"Hello." He said.

"Hi. Darien… its Claire." Claire's voice came over the phone.

"Yeah, so what can I help you with?" Darien asked impatiently begin to fingers on the table.

"I need you to come down and have some tests run."

"Do I have to?" He asked already knowing the answer.

"Darien Fawkes if you want to get better you'll have to cooperate." Claire's voice sounded strained as if trying to hid something.

"Claire what aren't you telling me?" Darien asked.

"Nothing…nothing at all." She said quickly way to quickly for Darien's likes. "Now get down here before I send Alex to come and get you." Then she hung up.

Darien walked to the door and picked up his jacket looking for his keys when the phone began to ring again.

"For crying out loud." He said stomping over to pick it up. "Clare I told you I'm coming ri-"

"This isn't Ms.Keeply."Came a deep voice.

"Who is this?" Darien asked suddenly worried. His number was un-listed no one other than Hobbes, Alex, Claire, and the Official knew it.

"Your worse nightmare." Came the response.

Then Darien's door blew in and he was thrown against the far wall and knock unconscious.

A:N/ the next chapter will be up in a little bit… 

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   [1]: http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Oscar_Wilde/



	3. Chapter 1 : Late again

Chapter 1: Late Again

         Claire checked her watch again tapping it hoping that it was wrong… Knowing it wasn't.

       _Where is he? _ She thought. Just then the door to the keep opened and Bobby walked in.

       "What's up Keep?" He asked

       "Not much no thanks to Darien."

       Bobby looked puzzled for a moment. Then asked "What did he do this time?"

       "He was supposed to come in for some tests, but he never showed up." She replied looking at her watch once again.

       "Do you want me to go and pick him up?"

       Claire looked up at him. "Would you do that? Thank you Bobby so much." And with that Bobby left and Claire went back to work.

                                                          ***

       Bobby pulled onto Darien's road and drove to his place. He parked on the curb and pocketed his keys. He walked up to Darien's door and gasped. The door and the wall around it was half way across the room. Bobby pulled out his gun and stepped across the pile of rumble and pulled out his cell with the right he quickly dialed Claire. After 3 rings she picked up.

       "What?" She growled.

       "Claire it's me." Bobby said.

       "Oh, hi Bobby. You can come back now Darien just called and said that he was on his way."

       Bobby paused. "Claire what do you mean he just called you? I'm at his apartment and Claire half of his God-Damm wall is missing." Bobby heard Claire gasp at the other end of the phone.

       "Is he there Bobby?" Claire asked hurrily

       After a minute Bobby answered… "No, No one is here."

       "Bobby." Claire said in a small voice. "If Darien didn't call me then who did?"

       Bobby frowned.

                                                                 ***

       Darien was jolted awake when his head slammed against the wall of the van.

       "Ouch. Damm could you at lest try and miss the bumps?"

       "Shut-up." Growled a voice then Darien felt a hard punch in the face. He tried to open his eyes and when he couldn't he realized that his eyes were already open but he was blind.

       "What have you done to me?" Darien demanded.

       "Shut-up." Was the only reply.

       Darien gave up and put his back against the wall. _ I wonder…_ Darien shut his eyes and quick-silvered them then he re-opened his eyes and he could see. _ This is like running into the Chameleon all over again. _ While Darien didn't dare look at his kidnappers he looked at his tattoo. _ Shit _It was ¾ of the way to being full. He had to make a choice. See or go insane faster. He finally decided and let the quicksilver fall from his eyes casting him back into the darkness.

       They traveled in the van for about an other half an hour. No one said anything. Then suddenly the car came to a sudden halt and Darien once again hit the sidewall but this time he bit his tongue not wanting to be hit again.

       He heard the two back doors being opened and before he knew it he was being hauled out and thrown on the floor. Then someone placed their knee in his back and brought both of his arms up to the middle of his back and handcuffed them. Then he was pulled up and sat down in a chair. Darien thought for a second then with out much more of a thought he quick silvered his eyes and looked into the room for the 1st time. He saw 3 men and one woman. They were all dress in black pants and black top with leather dusters. _Great. _The men looked profession like they had done this before. The woman was the leader by the looks of it. Darien wished he knew how many blocks he had left.

       The women was pointing towards Darien. She looked pissed off and Darien noted that the men looked pretty scared. Then she left and the guys walked over to Darien. He quickly let the quicksilver fall from his eyes as two of the men grabbed his arms.

       "Hey careful." Darien said.

       "Shut-up." One of them said. But no punch came.

       "What no more hitting?" Darien asked.

       "No…we have something better in mind."

       Darien felt his throat tighten up. Then they un-did his handcuffs and pushed him into a room.


	4. Chapter 2: Coming to terms

**_Chapter 2: Coming to terms_**

**__**

            Bobby was still standing in Darien's apartment when Claire arrived. 

            "God Bobby. I feel so bad." Claire said walking over to Bobby. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

            Bobby looked at Claire._ 'God, I think she's going to cry.'_ Then Bobby did the only thing he could think of. He pulled Claire into a friendly hug and kissed the top of her head. "It's going to be alright, Claire. He's going to fine."

            Claire shuddered softly. "I hope you're right Bobby because I couldn't stand it if the last thing I said to him was in anger. Oh God, Bobby." Then Claire began to cry.

                                                                        ***

"Hello. Is anyone there?" Darien asked

"Yes. Hello Mr.Fawkes." Came a calm female voice.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"Probably not but you should." The voice said becoming angry.

"From where?" he asked quick silvering one of his eyes and checking out his tattoo. _Damn._ It was three blocks away from being all red. He looked up at her. "Who are you?"

"You should know. You killed my father." She replied.

Darien was still confused then it all came together. The blindness. The professionals. It was really very cunning. '_She's the Chameleon's daughter'._ She must have read his _expression.

            "Oh good. You remember. I was wondering if a murderer would remember the murdered."

After a few seconds pause Darien responded, "I remember him."

"So you admit that you murdered him." She said.

"No! I didn't say that!" Darien said angrily.  The woman walked over to him and stopped. She raised her hand up near face level, and turned the ring on her hand to face her palm. Then she slapped him. Blood ran down his cheek from the cut the stone had caused. He swiped it away with the back of his hand, only resulting in smearing the blood across his face.

            "Look." He began.

            "No. Shut-up!" She said cutting him off. "I don't want to hear anymore of your lies."

            Darien fell silent.

            "Now.  Seeing as it was you who killed my father, I think that it's only correct that I kill you." She said.

            "Hey now." Darien began but then he was silenced when she grabbed a gun from the inside of her jacket and held it against his temple. He swallowed hard.

            "Now," She said. He could hear the glee in her voice. "I have you here, and trust me when I say there is no escape." Darien wanted to say something but then he remembered the gun that was being pointed at his head. "I can either shoot you now, or I can take my time and torture you. Since you are the guest, I'll let you decide. How does that sound?" While she asked the question she pushed the gun harder against his head.

            "Fine. That sounds fine." He said. The pressure from the gun was increased as Darien thought. '_She'll probably do the complete opposite of what I say so…' _After a few more minutes of debating he opened his mouth to reply and she slide the gun down from his temple slowly over his nose and over his lip and slide it into his mouth resting it on his bottom lip.

"Just think," she said, "How easy it would be if you just let me kill you now?" Then she leaned in and whisper in his ear. "I want you to remember this when you're thinking of escape." Then she pulled back and put the gun back on his temple. "Now what is your answer?"

Darien took a deep breath and tipped his head up. "Shoot me. Go ahead, get it over with." 

He knew if he could see her face right then she would have been smiling. Darien felt the gun being removed from his head and the women take a step back the he heard the gun being shot. Darien exhaled all his air as the bullet slammed into his left shoulder knocking him back a step. His right hand automatically moved to stop the bleeding; but without him knowing it the woman had moved back to where she had been before and as he reached for his shoulder she grabbed his hand and twisted it.

"Tsk, tsk." She said. Then she reached and grabbed Darien's shoulder and put pressure where the bullet went in. _ 'It must have hit bone it didn't come out. Damn it. _ 

Darien hissed in pain.

"Just think." The women said. "This is just the beginning." Then she let go of his hand and shoulder and left.

Darien faintly heard the door open and the women say.

"You should have picked torture."

Then the door slammed. And Darien fell to the floor in a heap, instantly falling unconscious.


	5. Author's Note

Authors note: 

                        Hey guys I forgot to but this on the story so I just thought that I would upload it now I would like to thanks all those who have R&R and also my Beta reader  thank-you thank-you thank-you… anywhos…. The next chapter might be up sometime next week due to me having to write a final exam for school so that's all. Till next time. 


	6. Chapter 3: Torture

Chapter 3: Torture

            As Darien pushed end on his cell phone he heard screams coming from inside the house. He moved around so he could look into the living room. As he looked in, he saw a man carrying Layla across the room to the couch. _'The Chameleon' _he thought. As he watched, they talked and then began to kiss. As Darien moved around to get a better look he knocked over a few rocks.

            "Oh crap."

            Darien picked up the rocks and put them back when he looked back into the room, the man was gone. '_Where did he go?'_ The only person Darien could see was Layla. Then Darien felt the wind get knocked out of him as he was kicked in the side. He spun around to face his unknown opponent, and proceeded to be kicked under his chin and fall to the ground. The Chameleon began to search him and found his ID. After he looked at it he threw it back to him.

            "You got very close my friend. You saw my face. And that's too close."

            Then the Chameleon punched Darien in the chest, leaving him gasping for breath again.

            "Be glad you're going to live to see tomorrow." Then the chameleon left.

            Darien slowly and painfully climbed to his hands and knees, fighting for air. When he looked up he saw the Chameleon with his blinding weapon, running out of the house. He took off, running across the yard.

He looked back and the Chameleon fired. The blast caught him and threw him backwards over a hedge. Before he landed Darien turned himself invisible and Darien is left on the ground blind, alone, invisible, and helpless. 

                                                            ***      

            Darien jolted from his nightmare. He lay in a different room than before, the ceiling was different. His arm throbbed but the pain was bearable. He groaned and closed his eyes and rolled his head to the side. Instinct told him to open his eyes again. That's when he finally noticed the other person in the room. She was sitting on a stool a few feet away. She had short brown hair and blue eyes, and she was wearing a long black skirt and a red tank top. '_She kind of looks like Alex', _he thought.

            "Good you're awake. I was beginning to believe that you never would." Darien shivered as she spoke. He remembered the gun being shoved into his mouth. He shook his head trying to rid himself of the memory.

            "Since I'm awake, now what?" Trying to sit up while saying this, he noticed for the first time that he was chained down on what looked like an operating table. It wasn't as uncomfortable as being strapped in the demented dentist's chair, he though.

            "Well", she sighed. "I guess we can began the torture."

            "Oh joy. Well wake me up when it's over. I'm going back to bed."  The women got up and walked over to him.

            "You talk too much," she said, and punched him in the mouth. This time she had brass knuckles on instead of a ring. She walked to the other side of the room where there was a table with not-so-nice looking devices on it. "Do you know what the four main types of torture are?" She asked him picking up something off the table.

            "No, but I'm pretty sure you're going to tell me."

            _'That or show me.'_

            She continued as if he hadn't said anything . "My father told them to me when I was young. I still remember what he said that day. Are you sure you wouldn't like me to tell you?" She turned to look over at Darien, revealing the baseball bat she had picked up off the table.

            "Umm, yeah I'm pretty sure." '_Man this chick is nuts',_ Darien thought as she walked closer to the table.

            "Yes you do you want to know what they are. That's because I'm going to use them on you." She paused, leaned the bat against the table,  and took off her brass knuckles. Once they were safely put away, she picked up the bat again and took a swing, as if testing it. "First, there is just plain beating. Sure everyone does it, but it's the easiest way to torture someone." She took another swing, this time a bit closer to Darien. She too a step closer to the table and leaned over Darien, a small smile on her face. "Then comes Heat," she whispered in his ear. Suddenly she jumped back and swung and hit Darin in the stomach. "Then comes Noise." She hit him again. "And then last is Freezing." She hit him twice more for good measure. She then grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head up off the table. "And do you know what my father said about these four torture ways?"

            "No what?" Darien finally asked, his voice blatantly pained as his precious hair was pulled to evoke a response.

            She lowed her head down and looked him in the eye. "He said that if you do these the right way and in that order, the person that I'm torturing would give up anything. Even their father's shoe size." She paused and smiled. "So you see Fawkes?. You'll be telling me everything and anything. But it won't help you. 'Cause I don't need anything from you. Except, of course, Death." She took one more swing, then turned and left the room.

            Once he had air in his lungs again, he screamed at the door, "Hey, you're wrong! I wouldn't tell you my father's shoe size cause I DON"T EVEN KNOW IT!!!"


	7. Chapter 4: Blood and Phones

A/n: hey guys here is the next chapter thanxs agian to all and also to my beta-reader…the next one should be up near the middle of this week until then enjoy…

**Chapter 4:Blood and Phones**

            "Feel up to another round?" the woman asked as Darien woke up. He had passed out about an hour after she had beaten him with the bat. A bruised and beaten Darien looked dimly over at her.

            When she had started this little torture session, he had been strapped to a table. Apparently a few of her lackeys had strung him up by his arms to the ceiling. His feet dangled a few inches from the ground. The arm that had been shot was sore and by the looks of it, infected. And to top it all off, he was two segments away from being in quicksilver madness.

            "Mr. Fawkes you look terrible." The woman said with a smirk as she pulled her brass knuckles from her pocket and slipped them on. She had changed from her skirt and tank top into a pair of tight slim fitting flair jeans and a sky-blue halter-top.

            "Yes, well, a morning of being shot and tortured can do that to a person."

            "Yes I imagine it would." She looked away from him.

            "How about we just have one more session of beating and then we can move onto something else. Won't that be fun?"

            After she finished talked she looked at him for a moment then punched him in the mouth.

            "Is that all you got?" Darien asked after stretching his jaw. "No wonder you used that bat, that's the only way you can hurt someone. You and that sissy punch don't do much damage."

            She smiled and laughed a bit, then punched him harder this time in the stomach. Darien gasped trying to regain his breath.

            "Never mind." He spit out. Just as he pulled in air she hit him again and all the air he had fought to regain left in a rush. He fought to breathe but then he began to cough, and he was overcome with a sense of dread. '_I'm going to die coughing.'_ He thought ironically. _'I've been through so much crap and I'm going to die coughing.'_

            Then he felt a hard slap on his back and his coughing slowly came to a stop. "Now stop coughing. You can die yet. We've just begun the suffering.'

            Darien breathed in the musty air, but to him it was the best air he had ever tasted. Then he felt a warm tangy taste in his mouth. The woman had moved back in front of him. '_It's blood _he realized.' He spat it out and saw the blood splash onto the exposed flesh of the woman's left shoulder. She looked down in disgust. When she saw that it was blood she smiled.

            "So all of my hard work hasn't been vain." Darien coughed again feeling more blood in his mouth. '_God Im going to throw up.' _Darien thought. He spit again and the blood spilled onto his top.

            "I'm so glad I didn't disappoint you." Darien said.

            The women smiled and pulled out a cell phone and a knife.

            "Oh, do you have to make a call?" Darien said. "Don't let me keep you. If you want I could just step outside."

            All she did was smile. "No actually, you have a few phone calls to make." Darien then recognized the cell as his own. His voice caught in his throat. 

            "Well, let's see. Who can we call?" She asked as she pulled up Darien's speed dial. "There's Alex, Claire, Bobby, Eberts, the Official. That's it? Well! I would have thought that a man like you would have more friends than that. Since there's only five, I think we have more time to talk to whomever we call. What do you say?"

            Darien just looked at her wishing the two remaining segments away.

            "I believe we'll call your partner. Bobby Hobbes." Then she pressed talk and held the phone up to her ear.

                                                                        ***

            Bobby and Claire were just about to walk into the Official's office when Bobby's phone rang. Both Claire and Bobby jumped.

            "Jesus!" Claire said placing her hand over her heart as if trying to slow it down. 

            It rang two more times before Bobby found it.

            "It's Darien's cell." Bobby said looking up from the screen at Claire. The phone rang again, snapping Claire and Bobby out of their reverie, finally answering it.

            "Hello?"

            "Hello." Came a female voice.

            "Um, who is this?" Bobby asked holding a finger up to Claire who was impatiently waiting by the door.

            "You may call me Cassandra." She said. Bobby heard a male voice in the background then a grunt as someone punched whoever he was.

            "What do you want?" Bobby asked.

            "I have someone here that wants to say hello." Cassandra replied. Then the phone was passed to someone else and Bobby heard a whisper but it was unclear of what she said.

            "Hello? Anyone there?" Bobby questioned into the silence of the other line.

            "Hobbes?" Came a weak reply.

            "Darien!" Bobby said shocked at how weak his partners voice sounded. Seeing Claire step closer to him, Bobby positioned the phone so that both of them could hear.

            "Bobby! It's the Chamel-." The phone was pulled away from him and the women came back on.

            "Hello again."

            "I swear to God if you've hurt him I'll kill you!" Bobby heard a tortured scream from Darien in the background. The line went dead and Bobby and Claire were left looking at the phone.


	8. Chapter 5: meetings

a/n: hey all so here's the next chapter sorry it took so long… just wondering if u guys want this to be just the one story or if it should have a squeal… r&r and tell me there…thanxs….enjoy…

Chapter 5: Meetings

            Alex looked over at the door as Bobby and Claire walked in, interrupting her debriefing. The Official looked a little angry as well.

            "Bobby, this better be important." He said

            "It is Chief." Bobby said looking at Claire.

            "Well out with it then." The Official said. When Bobby didn't reply Claire stepped forward and cleared her throat.

            "Sir, Darien's been kidnapped."

                                                                        ***

            Eberts looked over at Bobby and Claire. After a hour of being yelled at and questioned they both looked tired.

            "Sir. We should be out there looking for him not in here debating." Claire said speaking up for the first time in awhile.

            "Ms.Keeply, you are right, of course, but as you might have noticed we have no idea where to start." Eberts said. 

            Bobby glared at him. " Shut-up Eberts." He said.

            "Enough." Alex said standing up. "I think Bobby and I should hit the street and see if we can find anything out before it's too late." She said.

            After a moment the Official nodded.

            "Right, let's go." Bobby said as he got out of his seat and him and Ms.Monroe left. 

                                                                        ***

            "Bobby, we've got to head back. It's been more than two hours. There's nowhere else to go to." Alex said from the passenger seat.

            "Actually there's just one place left that I want to hit before we turn in." Bobby slowly said as he took a left. Then the car came to a halt in a parking lot of an apartment building.

            "Bobby, What are we doing here?" Alex said, sounding annoyed.

            "Darien knows a guy that lives here. Gives good information."

            Alex sighed. "I guess it's worth a shot. We've got nothing to lose."

            "Except time." Bobby said softly following Alex into the ground floor waiting area.

                                                            ***

            Claire was in the keep when her phone rang. She reached over and picked it up.

            "Hello."

            "Hello." Came a female voice.

            "What do you want?" Claire asked suddenly recognizing the voice.

            "Not much. Just needing to know what's wrong with your friend here."

            Claire thought for a moment then realized that Darien must have gone QSM.

            "Why, what's wrong with him?" Claire said trying to sound worried.

            The other woman bought it. "He's acting differently, and his eyes are blood-shot."

            "He needs his shot." Claire said

            "And I bet you want me to bring him to you."

            "No. Actually, I'll meet you in 2 hours at a bar named A.C.S. Do you know where it is?"

            "I think I can find it." The woman said.

            "See you in two hours then." Then the phone went dead.

            _ Okay two hours. I've gotta get to work._ Then Claire walked out of the Keep and to the elevator.

                                                                        ***

            An hour and a half later Claire was packing her stuff up. She put the new and improved counteragent into a carry case and grabbed her keys. She took one last look around and then left.

                                                                        ***

            Cassandra took one last look at Darien, who was still hanging from her ceiling. _Somehow he's different._ She thought to herself as she grabbed her keys and jacket then left the room heading straight to her car and drove to the small meeting place.

                                                                        ***

            Cassandra walked into the small bar and almost ran into a waitress.

            "Sorry." She mumbled as she moved to the bar. She sat down and ordered a Bourban. The barkeeper passed her the drink and then nodded to a woman in the far corner of the place.

            "That's Claire there." She said.

            "Thanks." Cassandra said, not even asking how she knew she was here to talk to her. She picked up her drink and moved to the same table as Claire.

            "Hi." Cassandra finally said

            "Hello." stated Claire with a curt nod.

            "Do you have what I need?"

            "Yes." Claire placed the case containing the counteragent on the table. Cassandra opened the case to make sure there were no tracing devices and that the shot was there.

            "Is there anything I need to know?"

            "Yes."

            Cassandra nodded. "What?"

            "That when my partner's and I get a hold of you, you're dead."

            Cassandra began to laugh.  After she finished her drink, she stood up. Then she grabbed the case and left, leaving Claire at the table to order another drink


	9. Chapter 6: A vision

Chapter 6: A Vision

Claire walked into the agency an hour, and quite a few drinks, later. She made her way back to the keep where she found the Official, and two of his lackeys, waiting for her.

"Where have you been?" the Official demanded

"Well, hello to you, too, sir." Claire huffed.

"Answer the question."

"Out."

"Out giving away counteragent," the Official countered.

"Just calm down, alright." Claire waved her hand to silence him. "Listen. Yes, I did give away an injection of counteragent."

"To whom?"

"Cassandra."

"What!!!!" he yelled

"Just hear me out, please, sir. I gave her counteragent, yes, but also a bit more. I placed a few nano-bugs in with the shot. We happened to be able to salvage a few from Allianora's body."

"We still have those?" the Official asked, a bit stunned at the news.

"Yes, and they should be injected into Darien's system any moment now. Which means that I should turn this computer on and get the program running."

The Official grinned. "Well then, let's let Ms. Keeply get to work boys. I'll be right back. I have to go call Hobbes and Monroe and tell them to get back here on the double."

Claire watched as the Official left. If he wasn't so obese he might have been jumping for joy. She smiled to herself at her own joke. Hold on Darien we're coming. She thought as she hit the power for her computer.

                            ***

"Good afternoon, Ms. Blake." one of the guards said as she walked into the building.

"Yes. It is a good afternoon," Ms. Blake said as she continued on her way down the hallway. As she walked up to a highly locked, tightly secured, steel door, the guard posted outside opened it for her.

As she walked in she saw the now red-eyed Darien. He calmly looked at her and smiled.

"Hello." he said in an airy voice.

"Hello." she said as she walked to the table. She sat the small briefcase on the table and pulled out the yellow substance that lay inside. She carefully picked it up and walked over to him.

"You're not sticking that shit in me. I'm staying nice and red-eyed until I can get out of here and kick your ass!" Darien shouted.

He began to struggle against the chains that held him as she walked closer. When Cassandra saw that she wasn't going to be able to use his arm she gabbed it into his neck and pushed down. The yellow substance rushed from the needle and straight into his neck. Cassandra pulled it out and jumped back.

She looked at Darien.

He muttered 2 words before passing out.

"You Bitch."

                          ***

When Eberts walked into the keep he saw Bobby, Alex, Claire, and the Official all seated, looking at a computer screen. Bobby was eating some microwave popcorn. As he took his seat, and Bobby offered some popcorn to Claire, the speakers crackled and Darien's voice came through.

"You bitch."

Then came Cassandra's voice. "That I might be." The screen, however, remained black.

"It worked." Claire said excitedly

"Can you find out where he is?" the Official asked

Claire thought for a second. "No probably not. It would be too hard since I couldn't plant a homing device in the nano-bugs. I didn't have the time."

"Fine, at least we can try to see where he is. Since he was just given the bugged counteragent, how long until he comes to?" Bobby asked.

"It's hard to say. It all depends on Darien's body. Probably around an hour or two if he's been beaten, which we can pretty much say is a certain thing." Claire replayed.

"So did you two find anything?" the Official asked looking over at Bobby and Alex.

"Yes, sir we did. We found out that the Chameleon's daughter is in town for a while. She arrived a little over a week ago." Bobby said, Alex nodding to confirm, not knowing how important all that information really was.

"Really? Do you think she would be after Darien?" Claire asked

"It's possible. Let's remember a QSM Darien _did_ throw her father off a roof. So in her point of view Darien killed him. I'd have to say that's it's very likely that she's the one who took him." Bobby said frowning

"Yes, well then. Maybe we should try and learn something more about this Cassandra woman and see if she has anything related to the chameleon's daughter." Eberts said, clearing his throat.

Before anyone could congratulate or tell him to shut up, Claire's phone rang. She looked down and saw that it was Cassandra. "It's her."

"Well answer it." The Official said.

"Yes of course." She said picking the phone up and pressing talk. " Hello?"

"You tricked me! You said that it would fix him."

"It should have. What happened when you injected him?" Claire said not giving away that she already knew what had happen.

"He passed out, you bitch."

"Oh that's a common side-effect. The injection is fighting a virus in his bloodstream. He'll come to in an hour or two. He shouldn't need another shot for a while."

"Fine, but I swear to God if you're lying to me…" Cassandra began.

"I'm not. Good-bye." Claire said, and then hung up the phone. 


	10. Chapter 7: Feeling

A.N: okay here u go guys instead of on big chapter I'm posting to small chapters I hope you enjoy this story is getting close to the end four more chapters or so then the next one starts enjoy….

Chapter 7: Feeling

Bobby sat in front of the computer screen, seeing and hearing nothing. Claire and Alex had gone out into the streets to see if they could find out anything. Eberts and the Official were upstairs trying to get extra military help.

And I get stuck watching the vast nothingness of Darien's mind. Bobby leaned back and closed his eyes. Then the screen flicked to life showing a small room.

"Hello." A small voice came over the speakers startling Bobby, who hadn't realized the picture was on. He looked at the screen and saw a door. Bobby quickly reached over and picked up the phone and dialed the Official's office.

                       ***

"Eberts, get the phone." the Official said.

"Hello this is the Dep-"

"Shut-up Eberts, it's me."

"How may I help you Bobby?"

"You can tell the Official that the show is beginning."

"Yes we'll be right there." he said then he hung-up. "Sir."

"What Eberts?"

"Darien's awake and the nano-bugs are working."

"Well then, we should get down there." And so they went to the elevator.

                      ***

Bobby was still watching the screen as the Official and Eberts entered.

"Shouldn't we call Claire and Alex and get them back here."

"Already done sir. I called them right after you. They'll be in here in about 5 minutes." Bobby informed them.

"Good." Then they sat down and watched.

                        ***

Across town, Cassandra Blake was getting ready to go back in and begin the second form of torture with Darien. Little did she know that she would have an audience.

                      ***

Claire and Alex sped across town, going as quick as possible to get to the agency.

                   ***

Darien felt like he was going to be sick. He was bruised, beaten, and shot. If this is how he felt after the first few sessions, he didn't want to think about how he'd feel in a few more. The worst thing was that he was chained up by his arms, and no matter what he did he couldn't get even remotely comfortable. He hurt all over and nothing could stop it.

He looked up at his tattoo and saw that it was fully green. 'What the Hell!' he thought, trying to figure it out. How???

Before he could finish his thoughts, Cassandra walked in.

"Good, you're awake. I was beginning to think I'd have to start the second phase without hearing you scream." she said walking over to the table, and picking up a lighter and a can of spray paint.

"Hey, what are those for?" Darien asked, suddenly nervous.

"Why these...these are the next set of tools. Aren't you glad we're through with the brass knuckles and baseball bat?" she asked, smiling wickedly.

Darien looked at the new tools for a moment. "Can't we go back to them?" he asked.

"No ... we're way past them now." She flicked the lighter on and moved it towards Darien's chest. Then she put the spray can up to it and pushed the button. The spray rushed out and hit the flame, which produced a rather large wall of fire, which shot out towards Darien.

Darien twisted his arms managing to turn himself around a split second before the flames met his skin so that the flames met his back instead of his front. Darien bit his tongue as the flames burnt away his top and hit his skin.

Think of Claire ...Bobby...Alex…. They wouldn't want me to scream.

"Fine, if you want to play that way." Cassandra said. She grabbed his waist and spun him around to face her. This time she held him still with her foot. She started the flame up again. At first she held it off to the side, but then slowly and surely brought it towards him.

Darien felt the heat before the flames hit him. He tried not to scream, but he couldn't stand it any longer. As his flesh bubbled, Darien screamed in pain. Throwing his head back, he screamed, not caring who heard him anymore. 


	11. Chapter 8: Shear a tear just for me

Chapter 8: Shed a tear; just for me

"Oh my God. I think I'm going to be sick." Claire said.

The whole gang had been watching and listening to what Darien was still going through. Right now, he was still awake and looking down at his chest and the blister that had almost instantly formed when Cassandra had set him ablaze. They watched as he looked up at his captivator.

"Is that the best you got?" he asked her. She smiled and started up the flame again. Claire couldn't watch anymore of the torture, so she stood up and left the room to go to an area of the lab far away from the screen. She busied herself with a lab report but she couldn't get the sound of Darien's tortured scream out of her head. She shuddered, burying her head in her hands she began to cry. She felt a soft comforting hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up at the person to whom the hand belonged and saw that it was Alex.

"Claire, are you okay?" she asked

"Yes, I'm fine." She replied, wiping her tears away.

"Do you mind if I stay here for a while? I don't think I can stand that any longer."

"Yes of course." Claire said gesturing to the chair across from her. Alex nodded and sat down. "You know when I first met Darien, I thought that he was just going to be a pain in the ass. All he did was bitch and complain." Claire smiled softly. "But you know what? He surprised me. And I figured out that I had him fixed all wrong."

Alex smiled. "I know what you mean. On one mission he was going on and on about quotes and I finally got so sick and tired of it that I told him that he was a thief and an agent not a damn philosopher and that he should start acting like it." She smiled again lost in thought. "Do you know what he said to that?" She asked softly.

"No what?" Claire said feeling a tear roll down her cheek.

"He said that no matter what life chooses for us we have the right to decide what we are going to do with our life." Alex began to cry. Claire reached over and rubbed her shoulder.

"It's okay." She said as she wiped away a tear from her own check. "It's going to be just fine."

                     ***

A while later Claire and Alex walked back to where the guys, minus Darien, were. They heard them before they saw them. 

"We need to think this through first, Bobby." the Official said.

"We don't have time to think this through. We need to go right now before it's too late." Bobby growled back.

"We don't have the man power to pull off something this big." The Official said, standing up so quickly that he knocked over the chair that he had been sitting on.

"Then call some of your friends and get the power. Or I'll do it by myself." Bobby said also standing up.

"Hey boys, did we miss something?" Alex said trying to calm the situation down. The Official looked over at her. 

"Tell them Eberts." He growled.

"Well, Mr. Hobbes and the Official were watching the show as it is." Eberts cleared his throat. Alex and Claire both looked over at the computer screen and saw that it was black.

"Is he passed out?" Claire asked.

"Yes he passed out around 5 minutes ago. Thank-fully." Bobby said shaking his head.

"Continue Albert." Alex said politely.

"Thank-you Ms. Monroe." Eberts said blushing softly.

"Come on Eberts. This is a government agency, not a singles bar." Bobby said.

"Yes, well, as I was saying." Eberts said looking over at Bobby. "As Robert and the Official were busy, I ran the name Cassandra through the database and this came up." he said as he passed both Claire and Alex a sheet of paper with a photo of a young woman in her late twenties, early thirties. The picture was black and white so it was impossible to tell anything other than that.

"I would like you both to meet one Cassandra Jessie Blake. Age 32. Born to Bernard and Marie Blake from France. She moved to Canada when she was 13 with her mother and lost contact with her father at the age of 14. That is also when the Chameleon's victim's began to show up, and when little Cassandra started her own little crime section."

Eberts passed out a few more papers.

"What's this?"

"Her rap sheet. Let's just say she wasn't as clean as her father." Bobby said

"As you see, at first there were only minor charges. Possession, a small argument at school that someone pressed charges against her. But then, a few years later, the real crimes began. At the age of 16, she was caught in Quebec trying to rob a bank. Then two years later while she was on parole, she stole a police car and took it joy riding with friends. When she was caught they charged her with drunk-driving, reckless endangerment, and a hit and run. She was lucky the hit and run didn't die and she was only sentenced for 5 years. Once she was out, she finished her parole and left the country not to be seen again until she hit Montana. The cops caught her in an undercover sting. She was sentenced to 6 years in prison for shooting 2 cops. Again, the victims both lived so they couldn't charge her with murder. Not even attempted murder, because she could have just clamed it to be an accident. Anyway...she was also charged with possession of drugs and illegal weapons. When she was finally released at the age of 30. She left the area and the rest is unknown 'til now. She's back and god knows how she found out about Darien." The Official finished finally. Looking at them all in turn. Everyone was quiet.

Bobby was the first to speak up. "I think that Chrysalis was in contact with her and that we should check out some of their hiding places that we know about."

"Bobby," Claire said softly. "Do you really think they are that…incompetent?"

"No, I think they're that stuck-up. They don't think that we can figure this out so what better place than something obvious?" Bobby said

Claire smiled. So did Alex. "Why Mr. Hobbes, I do believe you're right." Alex said.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go." Bobby said. The three of them moved to the door.

The Official spoke up "If you leave this room you are all out of a job."

They turned around and looked at him for a second. After glancing at each other and nodding their approval of some shared idea, they reached into their respective pockets. Throwing their badges to him, they said, "We quit then." They went out the door, leaving the Official and Eberts staring at the three badges on the floor and the sealed door.


	12. chapter 9: never a miss

**Chapter 9 : Never a Miss**

As Darien slowly woke up he felt the bile rise up in his throat. He knew this time he wouldn't be able to stop it. He threw-up onto the floor and the front of himself, getting some on what was left of his top.

As Cassandra walked in Darien began to dry heave.

"Oh the poor baby." he heard her say.

"Fuck off." he said.

"Fuck on, you get better results. Fuck around, you get something like you." she replied in a sing-song voice.

"Don't you have something better to do other than act like a 10-year-old?" Darien asked painfully. His throat was sore from all the dry heaving.

"No, I actually just came to tell you that since you passed out last round, we're going to be continuing with heat."

Darien looked up at her. "Go screw a cow."

"Why Darien, I don't have sex with my torture victim's mother. My door doesn't swing that way." She said with a happy smile.

Darien growled in the back of his throat. "Why don't you un-chain me?" Darien said, trying to get her angry. "What are you a coward?"

Cassandra smiled knowing what he was trying to do. "I think that you need to be taught a lesson." She moved over to the table set up across the room and picked up just a lighter and walked back to him. She turned the lighter on.

                     ***

Bobby, Claire, and Alex pulled up in the van to where Chrysalis used to store their cryogenic freezers.

"Okay, other than Allianora's apartment, this is the last place." Alex and Bobby checked their guns, and Claire grabbed her medical bag just in case Darien was there. She also picked up a gun, turned the safety off, and loaded it.

"Okay let's do this." Alex said pushing open her door. As the three of them walked up to the building, Bobby broke off and went to go around back, leaving Claire and Alex to the front. The stopped for a moment to the side of the doors for Claire take her bag off of her shoulder and get out the handset Bobby had given them. As they turned it on they heard Bobby.

"Okay I'm in and this is most definitely the place. I went through 5 guards already." Then two shots were fired. "Make that 7. Okay guys, go get Darien. See you in a little bit." Claire and Alex ran to the front door. Claire shot the lock and Alex kicked the door in. They slowly made their way through the halls of the building, guns at the ready. Every few yards there was a door. One of the girls would kick it in, and the other would look in it. They came to a halt when they heard screaming. It was masculine, and close. So far they hadn't seen any guards, but as they followed the scream they rounded a corner and were suddenly under fire. They dove for cover, landing behind the left hand wall just as a line of bullets tore through it.

"Now what?" Alex asked breathless.

"You do what you do, so I can do what I do." Claire said passing her her gun and grabbing her medical bag tighter. Alex just smiled. Then stood up and walked confidently into the line of fire  when the bullets stopped and the  guards began to reload. Claire heard the clips drop and then 2 shots from Alex's guns.

"Clear." she said looking over at Claire who was already up and moving towards her. Claire got her first glance and was surprised at what she saw there were two guards both dead from a shot to the head.

"I'm a perfect shot." Alex responded to Claire's look of disbelief. All Claire could do was close her mouth and nod. Then she moved forward down the hall steping over the bodies and moving to the door they had been protecting. Alex held up 3 fingers and counted down. 

3

2

1

Now! 

Then Claire kicked the door once. Another kick and it flew open. 

"Well, well this is an unpleasant surprise." Cassandra said from behind Darien who was awake and looked ready to pass out in pain.

Claire quickly looked him over. He needs to get out of here and back to the keep...or the hospital...she thought. Then Claire noticed the gun that was pointed at Darien's head.  



	13. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Reciprocal**

"Please come in and join the party and don't forget to close the door." Cassandra said.

Claire and Alex both slowly made their way into the room. Claire dropped her bag as Alex threw her a gun. 4 bullets. Alex's must have the same amount. How are we going to do this?

"Hey guys." Darien said in a low, weak voice.

"Darien, sweetie, its Claire. We're going to get you out of here." she said.

"That's nice." He said in a daze.

Cassandra began to laugh. "You really think you'll be getting out of here so easy?" she stated more than asked.

Then she made a gesture with her free hand for them to look over to the far wall. There sat a bomb counting down from 4:00 minutes.

"You'll never get out of here in time." she said

"Neither will you." Alex retorted. "I can live with that."

Cassandra stopped smiling. Clearly she hadn't thought of this.

"I'll make you a deal. You let me go and I'll give you back Darien here." she said nervously, looking at the two women.

"No, I think we'll just all stay here." Claire said.

Darien raised his head. "Claire, I don't want to die." He wailed, a tear falling down his cut cheek. Claire winced.

"Don't worry, Darien, you're safe." Alex said trying to comfort him. Meanwhile Cassandra was going through possibilities of how to get out in her head. The bomb hit 3 minutes. The room was silent other than Darien's slight whimper every few seconds.

2 minutes...Cassandra spoke up again. "If you don't let me out I'll kill him right now." 

Alex smiled. "Go ahead. He's dead anyway. If you shoot him now, we'll shoot you and leave with lots of time in hand."

Cassandra fell silent again.

1 minute.

Cassandra took a step away from Darien and opened fire. Claire and Alex dove out of the way. Alex rolled and came to a stop and began to open fire on Cassandra. She ran out the door with Alex on her tail. Claire looked up from her spot by the table to see that Cassandra hadn't shot Darien, but at the ceiling and the chains holding him there. He now lay curled up in a heap on the floor. Claire grabbed her handset.

"Bobby, Cassandra took off. She set a bomb. Get the hell out of here!" She screamed into it hoping he got the message. She jumped to her feet and ran to Darien.

"Hi Darien. It's okay we're going to get you out of here." She raised her gun and fired all of her bullets into the chains and locks that still held him immobile. He flinched and opened his eyes wide at the sounds, thinking she was going to miss and hit him.

"Bloody-hell." Claire yelled. "I'm sorry Darien, I should have warned you."

"I'll forgive you if you get me out of here." Claire looked at the bomb.

30 seconds.

Alex rushed back into the room. "Bobby's out, Cassandra got away."

"It's not important now. We have 20 seconds to get out of here." Claire and Alex both grabbed Darien and began to half carry, half drag him out.

"Darien can you quicksilver us?" Claire said knowing they wouldn't get out in time.

"I'll try." Darien said taking a deep breath and concentrating on speeding up his heart, which wasn't too hard considering the situation. He felt the quicksilver first coat himself, then Claire, and finally Alex. "It won't last long, hurry." He said weakly the effort of covering three people being almost too much.

"Duck in here" said Alex. She pulled them into a room that was more like an office. She had remembered this room from kicking it in before. Claire closed the door behind them and ran to hide behind the desk that was there. Darien re-quicksilvered her, and just as he finished, the bomb went off. The three of them felt a slight tingle of warmth, something like being next to a fireplace in the middle of winter. Claire heard Alex gasp and Darien fighting to get a breath. If he passes out we're all dead. 

"

Hold on Darien." _God I hope we live through this. If I never got to tell __Darien__ how I feel, I'd probably never reach the afterlife_

           " Yeah Hold on Darien." Alex said _God I hope we live. If I never saw Bobby I'd…where did that come from?_

"Yeah Fawkes. Almost over." Claire heard Alex say.

The warmth left then, and Claire and Alex climbed out from under the desk and picked up Fawkes. They began to walk as fast as they could, knowing Bobby was probably worrying himself to death over them.

"Look, the door." Claire and Alex picked up their pace. Just as they reached the door Darien spoke up.

"Guys I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in danger. I've got to stop now." Darien passed out and the quicksilver fell from them. Both Claire and Alex were shocked by the heat and the smoke. Alex let go of Darien and pulled open the door burning her hand in the process. Claire was trying to hold Darien up.

"Alex." she gasped feeling her legs getting weak. Alex reached over and grabbed Darien's left side again and they made their way through the doors into the open arms of Bobby Hobbes. He grabbed Darien as the two girls fell to their knees coughing. They were both slightly red in areas. Clothes were singed from passing through the doors. Their eyes were red from irritation, and Alex's hand was burnt. Other than that they were fine.

Bobby carefully laid down his partner and then grabbed each one of the girls and pulled them up and way from the burning building just as the fire engines arrived


	14. Chapter 11

A/N: Hey all this is the last chapter... (Wipes tear from check) I will be writing a squeal and I think the name will be A new Life. I just wanted to thank you all for r&r and a special thanks to my beta reader for all the info… also I (with the help from my beta reader) changed a little in the last Chapter you might want to make a quick look threw it might help explain this chapter and the next story..(wink, wink nudge, nudge) enjoy….

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 11:Recovered

Two weeks later in the keep:

Darien slowly woke up, feeling a presence above him. He tried to speak, but found that he couldn't. He opened his eyes and was shocked by the bright lights and quickly shut them. He began to hear the soft beeping of machines and the whish of a respirator. When he reopened his eyes, the light was more bearable, and he saw Claire standing over him.

"Hi you." she said." Don't try and talk, we had to intubate you. We can take it out now if you can prove that you can breath on your own. I want you to try alright?" Darien nodded his readiness and she flipped the power switch on the machine. 

Darien began to breath.

In…Out

In…Out 

In…Out

 "Good Darien. Now when I tell you to, exhale for as long as possible and I'll pull out the tube, okay?"

Darien nodded his head yes. Darien watched as Claire grabbed the tube.

"Now Darien."

Claire pulled the tube out as Darien exhaled. Then he began to cough.

"Are you okay?" she asked, after the fit was over.

"Been better." He said hoarsely.

"You had us worried there for a little bit," she said, taking a seat next to him.

"Sorry." he said wriggling up into a sitting position.

"We had to take you to the hospital the first week after we found you. You stayed out of consciousness for the most part while you were there. Towards then end you would wake up for a few minutes, but you were incoherent as to what you were saying. We brought you here once we were able to move you and tomorrow we're going to move you into your new place."

"What about my apartment?"

"You're apartment was ruined. Cassandra placed a bomb outside of it. That was how she kidnapped you."

"Oh. So where's my new pad?"

"Right now...my place." Claire said with a smile.

"Why Keep! I didn't even know we were dating," he said laughing softly.

Claire leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

"Me neither." At least not yet, she thought smiling." You get some rest now and in the morning we'll take you home."

Darien smiled and leaned forward and kissed Claire's cheek.

"Thanks for everything." Then he lent back and closed his eyes and he was asleep in a matter of minutes.

        ***

Claire woke a few hours later to the door sliding closed. Apparently she had fallen asleep in the administering chair where she had sat after Darien had fallen asleep. She opened her eyes slightly and saw the Official walk over to a sleeping Darien and sit in the rolly-chair by the stretcher. She watched the Official as he watched Darien, wondering why he was there.

"I'm… sorry, Darien, that this happened. Especially to you. I swear to God that we'll find that woman and put her behind bars for good." The Official placed his hand over Darien's head and paused just short, too afraid to touch him, scared that he'd hurt him or wake him. Claire fell back asleep after she saw the Official get up and leave, wiping tears from his eyes.

      ***

"Hey, Claire, wake-up...Claire." she heard someone saying. Claire slowly woke-up, blinking, and she saw Darien standing over her, all ready and dressed to go, waiting for her.

"Hey sleepy-head. Ready to go? I am getting really hungry." 

She laughed, "I'm ready right now. You do know that you shouldn't be up."

"I haven't moved in two weeks. You lay down for that long and tell me you wouldn't want to get up."

       ***

As Claire and Darien slowly made their way to her car, a woman was watching them from a coffee shop across the street. She watched them drive away, then smiled and left the store.

"Darien, Darien, Darien, you may have gotten away this time, but I will get you someday. And now your friends have a debt to pay as well." Then Cassandra laughed." This is going to be fun."

THE END

Well, actually…

THE BEGINNING


End file.
